Rubin also throws two parties a year for his employees at his home in Mountain View.

The story is also a good reminder of Rubin's long history with Microsoft -- he was with WebTV, the Internet-on-TV company that Microsoft bought in 1997, before quitting to start Danger, which built the Sidekick. After he left Danger to form Android, Microsoft bought that company, too.

And when a bunch of phone makers signed on to build Android devices in 2007, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer laughed and said "they're welcome in our world." As it turns out, Android was very welcome indeed -- it's now the leading smartphone platform worldwide with 43% market share, while Microsoft has less than 2%.

See also: What Did Nokia CEO Mean By "Signs Of Danger" In Google-Motorola Deal?